. it's wjz maryland's news station. major merger. marshall airport's biggest carrier is about to get bigger. >> reporter: southwest airlines

plans to buy air trans. hello, everybody, maryland's largest airport could soon become an east coast travel power player. southwest and -- are said to become one. more on the impact the merger could have. >> reporter: the biggest airline serving dwi announces a buy out of the second largest airline. southwest plans to acquire air tran leaving travelers with a lot of questions. >> it's a merger. >> i always try to fly southwest. >> reporter: southwest ceo says the new airline will serve 100 million customers. >> the customers will expand and bring low fares. >> reporter: but a downside is

less competition. southwest airline currently serves 42 markets and air tran flies to 32 cities. 9 of those are the same as southwest airline. that means less travel to los angeles, milwaukee, new orleans, and tampa. >> to have fewer competitors, the tendency is i'm going to raise prices because i can. >> reporter: economist predicts more major mergers mergers this year. >> you don't do these mergers and everybody keeps a job. you do these mergers where 2 and 2 make 5. there will be some gates given up if the acquisition goes through. >> reporter: they still need the approval of government regulate ors and stockholders. if it goes through the new would begin operations in 2012.

now the maryland aviation administration said it was too early to. wounded in a hospital room shooting is resting in a home tonight. where he's been treated for the last 10 days. for a gunshot to the abdomen. say the son ever a patient shot koe en before taking his own life. you can read more in tomorrow's edition of the baltimore sun. a -- house crumples to the ground in just seconds leaving firefighters searching for anyone who may be in the rubble. >> that's right, vic, it was a frightening scene earlier today after a collapsed house goes down and there were reports if there could have been a victim.

>> reporter: sky eye chopper is on the scene. firefighters dig through the rubble of a vacant house collapse. >> i seen the debris falling down and then i just heard a loud boom. >> reporter: firefighters get on their hands and knees and dig through the collapsed house after reports a woman was seen passing by the house when it came crashing down. >> our special operations team is -- they are manually going through the debris to try and determine if someone is in beneath that debris. >> reporter: firefighters use a high-tech thermal imaging camera that detects heat and would zero in on someone buried beneath rubble. after an exhaust iive process it appears there was no one

beneath the rubble. >> when i saw it yesterday it was perfectly okay. >> reporter: so once again, no one injured. the city housing department is investigating the cause of the collapse, which is unknown at this time. back to you. >> reporter: thank you, chi. people living in an unopened home next -- unoccupied house next to. recovering from a horrible crash on route 50. was over the westbound 50 near king's st. clair road where two box cars collided. two men were rushed to the hospital with life threatening injuries. the man suffered serious injuries. the roads were slick prior to the crash. should you be able to video tape a police officer during a traffic stop? it was a question brought to the maryland courts this year by a motorcyclist wearing a

helmet cam. kelly mcpherson has reaction from the motorcyclist. >> reporter: obviously the motor sickist is pleased that this charge has been dropped against him but this case could also impact any of us who carry a video camera or cell phone that has the capability to shoot video. >> get off the motorcycle. >> reporter: a traffic stop turned into a u tube sensation and is now a victory for the motorcyclist. >> i was afraid. i felt the person at the time, i didn't know it was an officer at a time, was going to shoot me. >> he posted the video on youtube and the police charged him with illegally video taping an officer. >> as the judge pointed out mr.

grabber could be guilty of that offense based on those facts then anyone who possessed a blackberry, a cell phone, was also a fell on in maryland. >> reporter: i spoke with him just hours after hearing the news. he told me he is relieved and he doesn't know if he's getting his camera or computer back. >> they took the information had presented to the state's attorney. legal advice was obtained from the state's attorney office. >> reporter: the uclu says now opens the door to record any officer. >> when police encounter us they take the position that what we say is not private. and why shouldn't the same rules apply to the police that apply to you or i. >> reporter: state police are still reviewing this ruling to see if it will impact their procedures, but as of tonight

say knowingly change when it comes to pulling over anyone or charging anyone. reporting live from maryland state police headquarters. thank you, kelly. the maryland state police do not plan to appeal this decision. there are new -- that we first told you about last night at 11:00. told police he went in to susan speck's room, kissed her and then strangled her with a piece of string. he is charged with first and second degree murder. a student attending a trade school at security square mall is stabbed in the back as he enters the building. they say the young man was treated for nonlife threatening injuries. no one else was hurt. right now police are reviewing security tape to see if it helps identify the suspect.

hey praise to pilot and crew who prevented a crash. an emergency landing. as explains, passengers were being told to prepare for the worst. >> video from delta passenger includes the pilot's voice and these three dreaded dreaded words. >> brace for impact. >> it was tense. >> reporter: flight 4951 was supposed to go from atlanta to white plains but it was rerouted after the pilot said the right landing gear was not working. >> the right gear is stuck up. >> reporter: inside the cabin, 60 passengers a few of them sobbing, many praying as a flight attendant repeated this command. >> stay down. >> reporter: here's the position, heads down and i'm holding the camera in my phone, not trying to get quality but i don't know if we're going to

slam and go crazy so i'm not looking. >> reporter: his coworker was across the aisle closest to the wing where all the trouble was. >> i couldn't keep my face down. >> reporter: the pilot balanced the jet on the left wheel then eased it on to -- the passengers were hurried off the plane, filing past police and specially trained firefighters who were at the ready, but not needed. no fire and no injuries. >> it could have been bad and it turned out to be a very smooth landing. every day is a new day. >> reporter: wjz eyewitness news. well the biggest danger was the fuel in the wings which could have ignited. storms moved across marry lands today. just a little light rain coming

down. so how much can we expect? bob turk is here with a live look. >> reporter: take a look around the region. right now in the city not a lot going on right now. some pretty good stuff on the lower eastern shore. special ocean city. most of it continues to move from that region up toward eastern baltimore. some rain northeast of the city. just some very light rain activity. that's why we still have flash flood watches in effect for the overnight and for the western side of the bay because of these southwest winds. there can be some flooding there at times of high tides, denise. cause for concern as city schools, just minutes away, why students eye sight could be

bringing them down. we have all seen segways in the city, but could they be dangerous? antes up for its first ever casino. wait until you see what's inside. we'll show you. >> reporter: when will the sun return? a complete weather forecast coming up next. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

it is 71 degrees right now. the complete weather forecast is coming up. investigators are trying to decide what caused a -- to ram a dock at full speed. said he tried to perform an emergency, passengers say they were warned just seconds before impact. some of the people were injured and taken to the hospital. one person fell overboard but was rescued. a drunk driver has been convicted of murder in nick aiden heart. a jury delivered a guilty verdict on three counts. aiden heart and two friends were killed in 2009. the accident happened just hours after the 22-year-old made his first start of the season. and drew gal owes blood alcohol was three times the legal limit. he faces up to 50 years in

prison. a report shows the eye sight problems of baltimore city school children may be going untreated. only 17 percent of the students who failed an eye vision last year had documented care. the city's health department says it will act on some of the suggestions made in the report. open for business, maryland's first clock parlor opened today. but the word was out and people flocked to be the first to push the buttons. >> reporter: they came early, they came with cash. >> just here to try my luck. >> i came to get the money. >> reporter: opening day drew thousands of gamblers, a 75,000

square foot casino. >> we got late news from the lottery, everything was fine and we consulted and decided to go ahead and pull the trigger for early this morning. >> reporter: a buffet, a bar and gaming machines, even electronic table games. >> we were here a few times before the. >> reporter: it took maryland years of debate and a voter referendum to legalize a facility like this which expects to generate 100 million a year in state and local taxes. they have already hired 350 full time jobs and they are betting they will draw customers away from casinos in nearby states. so far it appears that's a safe bet. >> we go to hollywood casino and we love it and we also go to dover and all over and we wanted to be here at the

opening. >> it's close to home. i can take my money to delaware. >> reporter: how did you make out today. >> i lost a little bit but i had a good time. >> reporter: within the first 20 minutes someone hit for $5000. later in the day someone hit the jackpot for 10,000. the official grand opening is still set for thursday morning. and if you want you can still visit tonight because the hollywood casino will open at 8:00 a.m. and close at 2:00 a.m. the owner of the segway dice while ride -- dies while riding his own two wheel device. his body was found at the bottom of a cliff. the 62-year-old british millionaire bought the company back in december. >> thermometers were at the

breaking point in los angeles. the mercury reached 113 degrees in downtown la. that sets an al time record. people either headed to the beach, city schools canceled all outdoor activities. luckily it hasn't caused any power problems. >> reporter: and people working just like anyone else. >> reporter: but it was a dry heat, very dry. actually only felt like 105. around here, let's check the radar. we have some rain still overnight. right now it's been pretty quiet. but see this stuff, it's moving to the north. this is a pretty good shot. probably after 2 or 3:00 a.m. we'll see some of this. that's why they have that flash flood watch still in effect. we're at 71 degrees now.

humidity way up there. south winds barely moving. the barometer has been moving. 71 ocean city, 71 in elgin and 5 in oakland. winds have been pushing the water up the bay on the western side of the bay and that's why we have those warnings for the high tides later tonight in some areas and during the morning and afternoon tomorrow. through baltimore area you can see tides running 1 to 2 feet above normal so there can be some minor flooding. that should change as winds go back to the west, southwest and that will be sometime later tomorrow and early on wednesday, so you might deal with that for at least another 12 to 18 hours. all the way up the east coast and into quick he can.

-- question beck. looks like the heavy stuff just to our east. to our south we do have pockets of moderate rain, but for the most part it looks like the heaviest activity is off to the east of us. overnight we'll see some of this rain moving in. during the day -- low pressure heading up to the toronto area, but by wednesday night and thursday, yet another low pressure will develop along that stalled front out in the atlantic ocean. look for more rain here and we certainly need it on thursday. after that it finally clears out out. southeast winds up to 25 knots. i don't think we will see much in the way of thunder, but the low of 70, 71. tomorrow, early showers and then some sunshine up to 80. the next few days, 73, good chance of rain on thursday. and cooling down, 72, only 65

on saturday. coming up the ravens begin preparation for pittsburgh. >> reporter: but they are >> reporter: but they are dealing with some ,,,,,,,,,,

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topped with roasted garlic aioli and a natural four-cheese blend. mcdonald's chicken flatbreads. the simple joy of new discoveries. ♪ whenever the ravens and steelers clash it seems to be two of the best defenses if football. each team trying to eke out every ounce of offense it can. we all know the steelers without ben roethlisberger and the -- may be without their -- it seems uncertain if rice will be play on thursday. he suffered the injury when he was brought down in that play with the browns yesterday. the good news is the exam showed no ligament damage. >> injuries are a big part of

the deal. and hopefully we have positioned ourselves with good football players to overcome them. and that's proven itself already, but randy rice is a good player and we would sure rather have him. >> reporter: the ravens have a date on sunday. immediately after the action is complete, our coverage continues. join us sunday all live on wjz13. final week of the baseball season for the orioles opening a season of tampa bay tonight and the os want to avoid being part of a party. manager watches this one in the press box. show walter suspended a game

yesterday. the lefty mowed down a lineup. struck out 8 batters in the process. so the os didn't need many runs. the first on this shot to right center field to the wall, run scoring triple, that snaps a 4 game losing streak and puts the party on hold at least for now. they have got to do it for two more nights. thank you, mark. when we come back we'll show you something fishy. >> reporter: she's fish can [ female announcer ] remember this promise?

[ man ] martin o'malley -- taking on bg&e to stop the rate hikes. [ female announcer ] never happened -- your bill went up 72%. and o'malley gave the bureaucrat who approved the rate hike a huge raise. now martin o'malley promises we're moving forward. the fact of the matter is our economy is doing much better now. [ female announcer ] really? nearly 7,000 marylanders lost their jobs last month. four years ago, martin o'malley misled us. now he's just making stuff up. bob ehrlich. we can do better.

in south dakota it was a loud and rumbling scene. today it was the annual buffalo

herd round up. drove 1500 buffalo into corals for the november sale. some of the herds sold off because of the limited amount of past tour. if you are looking to bring dazzle to your aquarium, in taiwan they have created a flores event angel fish. the new breed can light up a room on its own. the fish are about to hit the market. they will be priced at $30 a piece. that means you don't want to that means you don't want to forget ,, old gibbs canning company. that means you don't want to forget ,, today these factories are full of dot com businesses. and now my job is helping maryland create

new economy jobs. training new math and science teachers investing in our institutions of excellence pioneering new cyber security jobs and giving an old gm plant a jump start building electric motors. i'm barbara mikulski. i approve this message so you'll know i'm fighting for you. and stick to it. like seriously low prices. [ male announcer ] at safeway, we made a promise of low prices. and we're keeping it. [ female announcer ] with club card specials like pork loin rib half, 99 cents a pound and campbell's select harvest soup only a $1 each. i need to know that when i'm here, the low prices will be too. monday, tuesday, everyday. i'm a big fan of everyday. [ male announcer ] and with thousands of everyday low prices, you'll save all over the store. [ female announcer ] low prices you can count on. at safeway, that's our promise. that's ingredients for life.

bob ehrlich pretends to be for the working guy... but he's not on our side. i thought i knew bob ehrlich, but then i found out... he raised property taxes on every maryland family... and business. he increased college tuition... by 40%. 40%. and i thought i knew bob ehrlich. he was against raising the minimum wage. made $2.5 million... working for a lobbying firm. $2.5 million? he's not really on my side. with this tough economy, we really need a governor on our side. letterman is next with